17 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

www.telegraph.co.uk said:

A soaring demand for ivory in China and the Far East is putting Africa's elephant population under strain and could see the creatures wiped out altogether by poachers in some countries, conservationists have warned.

Trade in ivory was made illegal worldwide in 1989 but the ban was lifted in 2008 to allow southern African countries to sell stockpiled ivory to China and Japan.Campaigners say this has also fuelled the demand for illegal ivory.

Organised criminal gangs are blamed for the lion's share of the trade, often paying impoverished and desperate locals to carry out the killings and harvest the previous tusks.

The backing from gangs means poachers come heavily armed and the military or wildlife units employed to stop them are frequently outgunned.

People from China's large and growing population living in Africa are now thought to be largely responsible for collecting the bounty and arranging for it to be shipped to Asia.

Read more...

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

ahh humanity. Proof God put us here to reboot the ecosystem by wiping everything out.

[Conrad Clough]

hmm, aren't there elephants closer to china and the far east? why would they wipe out the African elephants before ones in their own backyards? (not to mention the fact that we have been being told that poachers were on the verge of wiping out the African elephant for a couple of decades now, and yet they are still around).

[Sundew]

Some African elephants population apparently are loosing their tusks, with more and more tusk-less individuals showing up. This is because the hunters are selecting out the animals with the valuable ivory and ignoring the other animals (unless they get in the way), resulting in more offspring being produced by the tusk-less animals who pass on this trait. This may be the reason the Asian elephant has not been as ruthlessly hunted as well since most females and some males are without tusks. While this may protect the elephants from poachers, it also handicaps them in that they use the tusks to dig for tubers and for water in times of drought, for defense and as a sexual display to attract the females.

[PeacefulAnarchy]

Vile and disgusting... that's all I can say!

[zebra99]

More obscenity brought about by a race that couldn't give a damn about the animal kingdom...May they die slowly from their Tiger penis and Bear bile medicines...A race capable of high technology with brains and beliefs in the primitive past.

[Paracelse]

Where do we get licenses to hunt the hunter?

[Rolci]

So my question is, once elephants are extinct, what are they going to use instead of ivory? I mean, can it be synthesized or be replaced by something? Well they'll HAVE TO find an alternative. If they have to find one anyway, why wait for extinction, why not get it replaced NOW? Am I missing something here?

[SameerPrehistorica]

Those poachers should be sentenced to death

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

Come on asia W.T.F wake up ivory dose not make better eating utensils,rhino horns do not give you bigger penises,monkey paws are not lucky,crushed tiger bones don't make you last longer in bed etc etc etc.

[Yazdepp]

I am so disgusted! How dare they!

[Chooky88]

Zebra99. I agree. Screw political correctness and say it like it Bravo!

[Arawyn]

One of the worst crimes of man... Killing other creatures for something as silly as their teeth or fur, when we don't really need it. We kill off other species and destroy our own planet, for the sake of our own selfish wants.

[evil_kenshin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...africa-17798914

Quote

Wildlife rangers have shot dead five suspected ivory poachers during a gun battle in western Kenya.

Two rangers were hurt during the battle in West Pokot county, said officials from Kenya's Wildlife Service (KWS).

They said 50kg (110lb) of elephant tusks and AK-47 rifles were recovered.

I'm glad they were shot dead ; its not often I say that but the more poachers shot the less likely they will attempt it.

[xCrimsonx]

What a greedy bunch of "humans", all that lot want to do is kill everything that is beautiful. Does anyone have a need for the Pandas gallbladder or pancreas for anything??? Ya's soon see them jumping up and down about it.
The world should block these countries access to the worlds waters and anything else that is beautiful. They are stealing the existence of life!